


This Too Solid Flesh

by SpacedustAndBoxes



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: 6000 Years of Pining (Good Omens), 6000 Years of Slow Burn (Good Omens), Confusion, Crowley is genderfluid, Crowley is secretly good, Drowning, Hurt Aziraphale (Good Omens), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Gore, Noah's Ark, Oblivious Aziraphale (Good Omens), Protective Aziraphale (Good Omens), Protective Crowley (Good Omens), The Arc, Wings, more tags will be added as needed, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-08-19 11:23:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20208928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpacedustAndBoxes/pseuds/SpacedustAndBoxes
Summary: There is a lot of differences between briefly manifesting as a physical form and actually Having A Body™. These differences are something that Aziraphale and Crowley must learn the hard way while they figure out how to navigate the human world.(AKA a series of short Good Omens oneshots that can be taken separately or together!)





	1. Hurt

Aziraphale ran, stumbling and staggering along on the uneven ground. If he'd had the breath to speak, he would have been shouting every cuss word known to man, as well as a few that weren't yet. The sensation in his chest was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, and made it difficult to breathe.

_Hurt_, he realized. _It hurts._

Until now, the angel had not known the true meaning of the words _hurt_ or _pain_. After all, there is no pain in heaven. He had heard the word used in various situations, mostly involving humans, but he'd never truly known what it meant until now. He glanced down at the source of the unpleasant feeling, and was surprised to see red staining his white clothes.

_Red... right. Mortals bleed red. _The thought was an unpleasant reminder that though he was not completely mortal, his body did have a lot of the same features as that of the humans he was mimicking. Typically, when angels took physical forms, they bled gold, but a body is a lot more than a temporary physical form, and so they were simultaneously easier and harder to maintain. Aziraphale felt slightly nauseous at the sight of the blood. It was not a good thing to see. For a moment, he wondered if he should stop running, as he was growing dizzy. The thought had just barely crossed his mind when he stumbled to a stop and leaned heavily against a tree. A quiet groan escaped him.

_This isn't good!_ He thought worriedly as he felt the blood running down his side. _I really don't want to be discorperated. They'll make me explain myself, and probably laugh at me... and then there's all the paperwork as well... oh, this is really not good..._

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. Someone was coming. He braced himself to make a break for it, when he recognized an unruly red mop of curls. He remembered seeing something like that once before, shortly after the end of his time guarding The Garden.

"...Crawley?" He frowned slightly. In this state, he'd be vulnerable to anything the wily serpent might try, and it didn't help that he wasn't completely sure what he was capable of.

The demon soon reached Aziraphale. "Hey, what the fuck are you running from? Are you being chased?"

"Possibly," the angel admitted. "I suppose I angered the wrong human. But how was I supposed to know he had a knife?"

Crawley frowned, and that was when he noticed the spreading bloodstain. "Oh... I guess you've gotten yourself into a mess, haven't you."

Aziraphale nodded, only vaguely aware of the tears in his eyes as he fought to catch his breath. "It really hurts!"

"I bet it does." The demon smirked slightly. "This is your first time feeling pain, isn't it?"

The angel nodded slightly. "Please... just leave me alone... If I'm going to be discorperated, I'd rather go in peace..."

Crawley laughed loudly. It was a harsh, mocking laugh, that made Aziraphale wince.

"Discorperated? Angel, this isn't gonna kill you. Not right away, anyway. It's deep, but not _that_ deep."

Aziraphale frowned. "Well I didn't know that either! This is my first time having a body! I didn't know it could break so easily."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. The important thing is that you'll be alright. Now sit down."

"What?"

"Sit. I can't exactly justify healing an angel, but no one will know if I just patch you up."

Aziraphale was confused, but sat down as the demon had asked.

Crowley knelt beside Aziraphale, and drew a small knife.

_This is it,_ the angel thought, _he's going to kill me..._

He braced himself for a blow that never came. Instead, the sound of tearing fabric could be heard. Crawley had removed his cloak, and was cutting it into strips.

"What are you doing?" Aziraphale asked curiously.

"The first thing you should know about having a body," Crawley said as he continued cutting up the cloak, "is how to mend it. When something starts bleeding, it's important that you make it stop. The best way to do that is pressure. Sit still, this might hurt a little."

Before Aziraphale could ask what any of that meant, Crawley was binding the wound with the strips cut from his cloak. The angel let out a quiet hiss of pain when Crawley pressed on the cut, but managed to stay still until he was finished.

"There you go," the demon said happily. "You'll live alright. Just try to take it easy for a couple days. I heal faster than humans do, which probably means you will too. But if it starts feeling worse you can probably go see a human healer, alright?"

Aziraphale nodded slightly. He felt so confused. "Crawley, did you just... _help_ me?"

"Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious."

"But... why?"

"Why not? Humans have free will, so why can't we?" There was something behind those eyes that made Aziraphale feel as if those words meant a lot more than they did.

"I... suppose that's fair, but..."

"No buts. If it makes you feel better, you owe me one."

"One what?" Aziraphale questioned, Crawley was already walking away, leaving Aziraphale with more questions than answers. He looked down at his now bandaged wound, and Crawley's words rang through his head again.

_The humans have free will, so why can't we?_

Aziraphale slowly stood up, feeling as if he'd learned a lot today, and realized that the injury didn't hurt nearly as much as it had before.

_Maybe,_ he thought to himself, _that demon isn't as bad as I thought._


	2. Breathe

****Authors Note: In case you didn't read the tags, Crowley/Crawley is genderfluid and so their pronouns will change in various chapters.****

Crawley cursed under her breath as the rain began to fall. The small children crowding around her looked up at her with frightened, questioning eyes.

_What do we do now?_ They said silently. _Are we really going to die?_

She shook her head, feeling more hatred than she ever had before towards the supposedly "forgiving" Almighty. Even falling had not made her feel such hate.

_These are children! Small, innocent children! I won't stand for this! Fuck the damned Great Plan! Fuck it all!_

Fuelled by rage, Crawley did something stupid. She took three children in her arms and spread her wings, carrying them up to the windows of the arc. She willed the window to open, and put the children safely inside, then turned back for more as the rain began to fall heavier. She blinked water out of her eyes as she swooped down, taking the smallest of the children first. The older ones would be able to swim, hopefully.

Back and forth, over and over, Crawley carried child after child to the safety of the arc, even as the heavy rain weighed down her black wings and the water rose until the remaining children were paddling desperately.

_ And this is only the small group that followed me,_ she thought, guilt flooding her heart. _I can't save them all..._

Crawley continued to fight, though she was starting to notice herself getting lower and lower, closer to the rolling black water. Each child seemed heavier than the last, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

_Curse mortal bodies and their need for air! _She thought angrily. _Why did they give me a body?! I'd be more useful without one!_

She knew the answer, that any other way meant being unable to stay on earth longer than a few days, but all the same she hated some of the requirements that came with having a semi-mortal form.

Finally, the exhaustion became too much. Weighed down by her waterlogged wings, Crawley crashed down into the water, much to the horror of the few remaining children who were relying on her for survival. Guilt once again bit at Crawley's heart. Those last children wouldn't make it. That was her last thought before the impact of the cold water forced all the air from her lungs. 

Dragged down by her heavy wings, Crawley began to sink. She willed them out of existence, and attempted to swim upward, but she no longer knew which way was up. Everything was dark. Her lungs burned with a desperate desire to inhale, but doing so meant almost immediate discorperation.

Within a few minutes, Crawley was too exhausted to continue trying to swim. Blackness, darker than that of the water around her, began to creep across her vision, and she knew she was losing consciousness.

_Well, I tried... Maybe I can justify dying in something I wasn't supposed to survive? I doubt they'll let me off easy..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bright light coming from what she now recognized as above. This was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness.

~

"No, no, they aren't stowaways," a familiar voice claimed quickly. This voice was the first thing Crawley heard as she began to wake. "Quite the contrary, in fact. These children and their poor... um... mother... they're a gift from the Lord, so that your descendants will be able to have families and repopulate the earth once it's been clensed!"

"Are you certain?" This voice was not familiar. It was rougher, and flat. Crawley was unsure who it belonged to, as she currently felt opening her eyes would take an unnecessary amount of effort.

"Quite." There was an unnatural resonance to the familiar voice when it spoke again, a small demonstration of holy power, which made Crawley feel a little uneasy. 

The next sound was footsteps running away. Crawley slowly became aware of a soft warmth around her, and the quiet murmurs of frightened children.

_The children! _Remembering them gave Crawley the willpower she needed to open her eyes. The moment she did, she felt relief. She and the children she'd been able to save were huddled together in a sort of nest in the hay, where some of the more docile animals were being kept.

_Which means, _she thought, _I'm on the arc. Why am I on the bloody arc?!_

"Poor dears," came the familiar voice again. With her eyes now open, Crawley could confirm her suspicions of the voice belonging to the angel Aziraphale. "I hope none of you get sick from being out in the cold for so long..."

Crawley slowly sat up. "Zira...?"

Aziraphale smiled brightly. "Oh! Crawley, thank goodness you're awake! I was starting to fear you'd been discorperated!" 

The relief in Aziraphale's voice confused her. "Yeah... what happened?"

"You were trying to save a group of children," Aziraphale explained. "I saw you go down and... well, I couldn't just let you die for doing something so noble. I managed to save you and the last of the children with you. Thankfully, you all seem alright now. Hopefully Noah will accept my explanation..."

"Wait, wait, so... you... you saved me, and the rest of the kids, and you lied to protect us?" Crawley was surprised and, frankly, a little impressed.

"It wasn't a lie," Aziraphale said calmly. "If they are here, then it must be the will of the Almighty."

Crawley laughed. "Whatever you say, angel."

Aziraphale smiled, sitting down beside Crawley. "Hopefully it will be enough to keep them all safe."

Crawley looked at him, and cleared her throat a little. "Thanks, Zira. This means more to me than you realize."

"Oh, it's no trouble, Crawley. Consider it a repayment for when you helped me when I was injured."

Outside, the rain kept pouring, but the two otherworldly beings and their gaggle of children were safe and warm in their nest of blankets and hay. Crawley smiled, closed her eyes, and drew in a slow, deep breath.


End file.
